Born in Trinidad to Grenadian parents, Billy Ocean was eight when his parents moved to Essex in England. The son of a musician, he started singing in London clubs as a teenager and released his first single in 1972 under his real name Les Charles. However, success didn't follow until 1976 when he had a hit with the single Love Really Hurts Without You under his adopted name Billy Ocean. Further hits followed with Are You Ready and L.O.D (Love On Delivery) while he also built a reputation as a hit songwriter for other artists, including La Toya Jackson. Ocean had another major hit in 1984 with Caribbean Queen, followed two years later by When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going, a Number 1 in the UK and Number 2 in the US, which also featured in the movie The Jewel Of The Nile. In 1988 he had another Number 1 with Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car and continued to make popular dance records through the 1990s, also collaborating with R. Kelly. He was back on the road in 2008 and in 2009 released a new album, Because I Love You.Artist biography compiled by BDS/West 10. All rights reserved